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Top 50 Cincinnati Reds

This version of the Cincinnati Reds (there was one from 1876 to 1880 in the National League who were expelled for refusing to stop selling beer) can be traced to the American Association in 1892. They would win the pennant that year and would stick around there until they joined the National League in 1890.

The Reds are a five time World Series Champion (1919, 1940, 1975, 1976 & 1990) though they are mostly known for their success from the 1970’s. Their 1919 win was known for the Chicago White Sox throwing the series, their 1990 win is more thought of Oakland choking and their 1940 title is hardly discussed at all.

Those 1970 wins are however likely never to be forgotten. “The Big Red Machine” boasted Hall of Famers, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan and Johnny Bench and a plethora of other great players who populate our list.

Cincinnati may not be a large market but will always be a baseball market.

Note: Baseball lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff performance and post-season accolades. This is a list up to the end of the 2017 Season.

Ah, the Hit King!We all know that Pete Rose is banned from baseball, but the Cincinnati Reds recently placed him in their franchise Hall of Fame, as they should…he was the greatest player in team history.

It cannot be quantified just how good Johnny Bench was.The Cincinnati Reds Catcher was not just one of the best offensive players at his position ever, but he also backed that up with stellar defense and a cerebral way to call his staff.

Frank Robinson was the first player to win the MVP Award in both leagues, and while he was a major force in the Baltimore Orioles push to their first World Series Title, he was actually a better player during the ten seasons he was a Cincinnati Red.

Joey Votto had a claim at one time as the best hitter in baseball.While most people know that he is good, they might not be aware this is a player who won the National League On Base Percentage Title five times (including four in a row from 2010 to 2014, batted over .300 seven times and is also a former Slugging Champion. With that last accolade, the Canadian clearly has power as he has well over 200 Home Runs in a career that as of this writing has only been spent in Cincinnati.

While George Foster would not become a Hall of Famer he was the favorite of many fans of the Big Red Machine, and why not? This was the man who had the power numbers and let’s face facts; Home Runs make the highlight reel.

Vada Pinson was a very consistent hitter for the Reds and would twice lead the National League in Hits. While he did not win a batting title, he had three seasons for Cincinnati where he went over .300. Pinson would also lead the NL in Doubles twice, triples twice and had six seasons where he hit over 20 Home Runs. Overall, 1,881 of his 2,757 Hits happened as a Red.

Before the Big Red Machine got going, Tony Perez had already established himself as an All Star. As the team became “The Big Red Machine”, Perez would again go on an All Star tear, and was known for his clutch hitting. He would go over 100 Runs Batted In six times and would also exceed the 25 Home Run mark six times.

A major star of the Cincinnati Reds staff in the late 1930’s, Paul Derringer would win 161 Games for the team. Derringer would be named to six All Star Games (including five straight from 1938 to 1942) and would have four 20 Win seasons and was known for rarely walking batters in his prime. Notably, he would have two straight top five appearances in MVP voting (1939 & 1940).

Dolf Luque was one of the few Cubans allowed to play in the Majors in the early 20th century which was likely due to his fair complexion and blue eyes. The Cincinnati Reds were the beneficiary of this, as he would develop into quite a Pitcher playing under the Reds umbrella.

Sometimes it can be forgotten just how good a hitter Edd Roush was. After he was traded from the New York Giants halfway through the 1916 season, Edd Roush never batted below .320 in ten full seasons he played for Cincinnati. With a batting average of .331 as a Red you would naturally assume that the Outfielder would win a batting title or two, which he did in 1917 and 1919, the latter of which saw him help Cincinnati win the World Series, albeit in the year of the “Black Sox Scandal”.

Aside from his colorful nickname, Henry “Heinie” Groh was known for his use of a “bottle” bat, where he shaved the handle down as much as he could. Offensively, he was usually used as the leadoff hitter and was a very skilled bunter. He would have four seasons where he batted over .300 and would lead the National League in On Base Percentage twice. He would also win the OPS Title in 1919, the same year he helped the Reds defeat the White Sox in that infamous World Series. Defensively speaking, the short statured Groh was considered one of the…

Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000, 101 years after he last played, Bid McPhee is a lot more than the answer to a trivia question of “Who is the last Second Baseman to play without a glove”.

A member of the Big Red Machine that terrorized the National League through the 70’s, Dave Concepcion provided decent hitting with more than above average defense over his near 2,500 Games as a Cincinnati Red. Concepcion never played a game in the Majors for anyone other than the Reds where he was named a nine time All Star and was a five time Gold Glove recipient with seven top ten finishes in Defensive bWAR. He would collect 2,326 Hits with 321 Stolen Bases over his career.

While Jose Rijo finished under 100 Wins for his Cincinnati Reds career his role with the Reds cannot be measure solely by that statistic. Rijo surprisingly was only named an All Star once, but the Dominican hurler would finish in the top five in ERA four times, was a one time National League Leader in WAR for Pitchers (1993) and would also be a one time leader in WHIP (1991) and in Strikeouts (1993). Most notably, Rijo was named the World Series MVP when the Reds shocked the baseball world in a sweep over the heavily favored A’s going 2…